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M A N A G I N G T H E A R T R O O M
CONTINUED ON PAGE 42.
Sixth-grade students used canvas board, acr lic paint, and colored sand during the Abstract Painting round.
I
am always searching for creative
and meaningful rewards for my
students. One idea that was on my
list was an art challenge inspired
by Chopped, a television show where
chefs compete to prepare three dishes
using mystery ingredients. When the
new semester began, I mentioned the
idea to my sixth-grade students. They
were very excited and couldn't wait
to participate. My only problem was
that I didn't know how I was going to
organize it. Fortunately, time was on
my side because this was an incen
-
tive that students would have to earn
through positive artroom behavior.
First Things First
I have done competitions in the past,
and I was concerned that individual
students being "chopped" would
not go over well. In addition, I only
wanted to spend one forty-five-min
-
ute class on the reward. That's why
I decided that this was going to be a
team competition. This would help
ease the blow of being chopped, and
students would get more done work
-
ing together as a team.
Mystery Media
I grabbed several empty copy paper
boxes to hold the "mystery media"
items and searched my storeroom for
supplies that students wouldn't expect
to use. I had to keep in mind that these
challenges were going to be short—
anywhere from seven to nine minutes.
This helped determine what media
would be best to choose. Similar to
the show, students would have use of a
"supply pantry," which held all of the
basic art supplies they might need.
Next, I needed to decide on what
students would create for each round.
Instead of an appetizer, entrée, and des
-
sert, like on the television show, the
art version assignments would be land
-
scape, portrait, and sculpture. Some
of the mystery media I chose included
colored paper, crazy scissors, and glue
sticks; rubbing plates, crayons, and fun
wire; and black foam core, pipe clean
-
ers, and beads. All that was left to do
was to wait for students to earn this
incentive; it didn't take long—they
were excited and wanted to get started.
Set the Timer
As students entered the artroom, they
joined their prearranged groups at the
workstations and we began. The timer
was set, the category and mystery
media was revealed, and, just like that,
everyone was in a creative frenzy. Stu
-
dents worked to brainstorm and bring
their group vision to life, running to
the supply pantry when needed. When
time was called, all hands went up in
the air and everyone breathed a sigh of
relief and accomplishment.
Chopped Art
Christine Sacco
This fun little idea became
a grade-level assembl ith
a custom logo, T-shirts, a
troph , guest judges, and
the local media.
SCHOOLARTSMAGAZINE.COM 11